Don "Smokey" McLeod would be the number 2 goalie on Team Canada. Don got his nick- name due to growing up in Trail, BC, home
of the legendary Trail Smoke Eaters who represented Canada at the 1961, and 1963 World Hockey Championships (winning in 1961.) A career journeyman who had played a total of 18 games in the NHL, McLeod "blossomed" in the WHA with the Houston Aeros. After a strong 1972-73 season with the Aeros Don turned in a standout 1973-74 campaign leading the league with a GAA of 2.56 and backstopping Houston to the Avco World Championship that year. The "book" on McLeod was he was a goalie who thrived on a large workload. He played his best when he was the number one goalie and was playing almost every game. Houston had been the first "major league" hockey team to give him that chance and he seized the opportunity.

His play for Team Canada would lead people to call him one of Team Canada's bigger disappointments. He looked "shaky" in training camp and his play was erratic in the exhibition games against the Western Canadian Junior All-Stars. He got rocked for 8 goals against in game 3, and with the exception of a strong performance against Sweden in an exhibition game, Don never approached the level he showed in 1973-74.